The Madness!

Every year my family has a March Madness tournament where we each bet a whole dollar. It started when I was in 5th Grade between my dad, sister Jess, and me. Becky was too young to care and my mom isn't too into sports. She said something like, "I'm cheering for Cleveland, no the Cubs, no the Bears," when talking about Superbowl XLI if that helps paint a picture. Since then my Dad and I have always had a bet, for a while it was just the two of us. Becky started joining the fun a few years later although her choices were based on the color of the uniform at that point. ;) My mom has even started joining the fun with very random choices. Somehow she won last year...

This year Ben and I filled out our brackets in about 15 minutes while in Hawaii because he HAD to check the scores. I curious as I was I wanted to take the time to fill out my bracket right. We still haven't seen everyone else's brackets, but it didn't turn out too badly for us. We'll find out in just over a week who gets bragging rights of winning the pool or at least picking the champion.

Rivalry "Renewed"

Maybe I'm out of touch being in Boston, but I don't remember Pistons fans caring about the Celtics when I was in the Midwest. It definitely seems like Celtics fans still HATE the Pistons still. Ben and I went to see the Pistons play the Celtics last Wednesday and they were really pushing the old rivalry during the pre-game. We had awesome seats about 20 rows off the court right by the tunnel the visiting team used to enter the court (about 1/3 the way up Sec 4).

After getting stuck in a snow storm in Seattle Tuesday night and making it to Boston at 4AM Wednesday, the Pistons weren't really with it the first quarter. It wasn't a factor of the defense, they just couldn't make a basket to save their life. In the end they made it a great second half, and most of the fourth quarter the Celtics fans were noticeably less rude to Tayshaun and crew. In the end the fouls made the final score lopsided but it was an exciting second half.

I expected the one sided cheering where a good call against the home team is a "bad" call; I even expected a little ribbing since Ben and I wore Detroit gear, but the fans were extremely rude to the players. The fans eagerly booed the Pistons before the game even started, taunted Wallace and Billups throughout the second half, jeered the Pistons for playing "D League" players, and even made fun of Flip Saunder's mullet. I won't argue his hair seems a little date but I'm pretty sure that isn't a mullet.

The "D League" player was Dixon who hit a shot immediately after the fans made fun of his "D League" status (that was pretty cool). Tayshaun didn't have a stellar game, but he had a few huge plays during the comeback to tie the game. He did manage to score 28 points the following game though so I guess he needs sleep to perform at his normal level of awesomeness. The Pistons were playing their bench and playing around with match-ups most of the game so I don't think they're too concerned about beating the Celtics at this point since they slot for the playoff is guaranteed.

Ben and I took the T to the arena from Wellington to North Station since parking was limited at the arena, and it was actually cheaper to park at the station and pay for 2 roundtrips than it was to park at the arena. Ben was paranoid about using the T so he talked to some people in his office and took notes. When we parked I glanced at his post-it note and headed for the station. After we bought our tickets I noticed Ben kept taking off his cap and putting it back on. When I asked him what was wrong he said he was checking his notes. Yeah, he took that note I had memorized in 5 seconds, put it inside his hat, and kept taking off his hat to compare it to the signs we were following. What a dork! :)

After we found our seats and watched some of the Pistons shoot around we went to wander around and find some food. As we walked by one booth Ben said, "They have a place that sells deli sandwiches. That's kind of cool." I glanced over and immediately recognized the deli meat as something else. In his defense the freshly mixed Italian ice cream did kind of have an appearance of slices of meat laid out on a tray, but it didn't take more than a glance to figure out that the roast beef was actually chocolate. At least Ben found my quick response of, "That's gelato, idiot," amusing.

It was a great game and Ben provided enough side entertainment to make up for the loss.

Ben's Squirrelly Little Friends

I used to tell Ben I was going to start my own blog titled "Funny Thing Ben Said Today..." because he always says something ridiculous.  It's either a made up word (usually with a definition still in the works), a string of words that make no sense in the same sentence, or something completely off the wall...like today.

Today he was staring out the window looking very thoughtful when he suddenly looks at me and says, "You know if I was a squirrel..."  The rest of the statement was something about how/where he would build his nest to avoid predators but that's doesn't really matter.  It was a classic Ben moment.  You could see him realize how absurd he sounded just as he got done with that first statement.  He kind of wished he hadn't said it, but then accept it and start laughing with at himself with a silent smile before I could.

Ben recently discovered a group of squirrels maintaining nests outside our house and was apparently thinking about his new friends when he decided to share his thoughts on life as a squirrel.  I'm pretty sure when he realized they had a nest last weekend he was more excited than the first time he saw the new Indiana Jones trailer.  No, seriously.  He was more excited and entertained for over 20 minutes.

Ta Da...Casie's First Entry...Meet the Jeep

My lease was up on the Cobalt in January so I bought a Jeep Patriot about a month ago. I had been looking forward to the release of this car since they first announced it. I always wanted a Jeep Cherokee when I was a kid, and the Patriot is the next best thing. The Commander is too massive and even with the '08 re-design the Liberty doesn't quite pull off the replacement if you're looking for a Cherokee look alike.

It's a 4 cylinder engine, but with the updated CVT I swear you can't tell. It isn't "trail rated" but after looking at what that actually meant...I don't need it. I'll let you know next time I'm trying to crawl over a 12-in diameter fallen tree and kicking myself for not going trail rated. The ground clearance is a little low for a Jeep, but the only true off-roading I'll do is when the plow forgets about our street.

I insisted on dark interior since mountain biking can leave some suspicious looking stains on your seats if you go with light interior. Becky can tell you all about the mud and other obstacles on the "Trail of Death", as she calls it. I have a roof rack so I can carry the bikes and kayak, when I buy the attachments. I also had to get the upgraded speakers. Oscar would refuse to listen to "sell-out Green Day" on anything less when he comes to visit his BFF. (For the record, I don't think Green Day sold out...even though they played on American Idol.)

Ben took these pictures when we went snowboarding recently. I limped away with an injury but not from the hill...from the parking lot. I wasn't hit by a car or any other potentially cool story you can dream up either. I fell on some ice, HARD. I'm pretty sure it looked like I was doing a jig while I was limping around trying to "walk it off". I ended up with a really deep bruise and small cut on my knee, but we still hit the hill until dark and I left the actual hill injury free.

Currently Obsessed With: 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' Teaser Trailer

In case you haven't seen it, below is the teaser trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie. It looks amazing!

This summer is shaping up to be a great movie season with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and the new X-Files movie, just to name a few.

New Frontier

Hello loyal readers. I've been slacking on the blog front...I know. So much happened in such a short time that the blog became an overwhelming task. And for anyone who tries to keep up a blog, the more you procrastinate, the easier it is to be lazy.

I have made small changes during the past few months with the widgets on the right (check them out). Today I've also added a countdown to the DVD release of "Justice League: The New Frontier", a straight to video cartoon. Neil Patrick Harris voices the Flash. See trailer below.

I do admit I am a comic book nerd, but I wouldn't post my first blog entry in months and just talk about a straight-to-video cartoon comic book movie.

It's new frontier for the blog! Casie will be a contributing author beginning today!

Ben's Fortress of Solitude has hit it big time...two contributing authors! :-)

Simpson-ized

This is what Casie and I would look like if we were Simpson characters.

I did this really fast, but you get the idea. I may post a better result later.

See what you’d look like. Upload your picture here.

Currently Obsessed With: ‘The Dark Night’ Teaser Trailer

Currently I am obsessed with the new teaser trailer for the next Batman movie titled “The Dark Knight”. It is slated to come out in July 2008. Below is the trailer I am talking about.

Although it doesn’t show much, the Joker’s cackle is well worth it. Heath Ledger just might pull it off.

Dayton Air Show 2007

Casie and I headed to the Dayton Air Show today. I received two Chalet Tickets, compliments of the Air Force Association (AFA) for my service in Iraq. The Chalet Area is a reserved private area, which provides premier viewing of the show. Chalets include a large air-conditioned tented food serving area, umbrella tables with chairs, and theater seating.

We arrived just as the lunch buffet was beginning to get packed up, but we did manage to grab a hot dog and some chips. Drinks were complimentary all afternoon as well. In the three years Casie and I have been stationed in Ohio we have always managed to miss the air show due to various reasons (deployments, trips, etc). This year we had one of the best seats at the show.

The first show we caught was Jim LeRoy in his Bulldog bi-plane.

It was truly amazing to watch. We also got to see the F-15 Heritage Flight with a P-51 and F-4. The sound those jet engines gave me goose bumps.

I also ran into an old friend's brother, Mark Amnormino, providing security around the F-117.

We also saw a CV-22 Osprey demo.…and then the unthinkable happened.

During a stunt show called Codename: Mary’s Lamb Jim LeRoy, the same gentleman I mentioned earlier, was unable to pull out of a dive and crashed. I am still in disbelief it happened. The Dayton Daily News has plenty of coverage on this horrific accident. Below is a diagram of how the crash happened.

Not much to say after witnessing something like that other than to keep his family in your prayers.

Let's Go to the Mall...TODAY!

Mandy Moore performed a free concert at the outdoor mall, The Greene this evening. I am not a huge Mandy Moore fan, but it isn’t too often you will see ‘free’ and ‘green’ in the same sentence. Everyone within 50 miles was there. I ended up parking across the street (six lanes wide), about a mile away.

Mandy Moore took the stage at about 6:36 PM and played for just over thirty minutes. All of the songs were acoustic cuts off her latest album, A Wild Hope. It was mostly standing room except for a set of bleachers and some lawn seats. These pictures should give you an idea of where we were.

With digital zoom, I was uncomfortably close to Miss Mandy Moore.

Ice Cream at Ritter’s Frozen Custard ended one sweet evening with Casie.

MASSIVE Update!

“I’ve got blisters on my fingers!”

I have just finished entering five new Ben-jam-in entries in an attempt to fill you in on what I’ve been up to this summer. I’ve pre-dated the entries to create somewhat of a timeline.

Enjoy!

And as always, please leave a comment and let me know I still have readers.

Dayton Pub Crawl

Saturday night Baeu, Sarah, Chris, Todd, Casie and I, along with a few others, went crawling (sort of) from bar to bar through Dayton. It sounded like a great idea considering Dayton is a college town.

The first place we stopped only sold 40 oz. bottles. What a way to start the night, eh? We hit about eight places altogether (one place twice), stopping at each for a pint or bottle. We needed it too. It was about a half mile to the first place and a mile to the second place. I was the designated driver, so I drank at about every other one.

Based on my college experience, the bars weren’t too far apart, but then again I went to Michigan Tech. One end of campus to the other took you 15 minutes max to walk.

So you could say the pub crawl was more of a pub walkathon, but it was still fun.

Curling Up with a Butterbeer

My very own copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has arrived from Amazon.com! I am not a super geek or anything, but I feel I need to read it immediately to avoid accidentally reading any spoilers on the internet. I just hope to finish it in two weeks.

Here is the box it arrived in.

Later Muggles!

PS For those who don’t know what Butterbeer is:

Butterbeer is the drink of choice for younger wizards. Though marketed to children, it contains alcohol: it appears to cause no noticeable drunkenness on a thirteen-year-old humans (though it creates the feeling of "warmth"), but is strong enough to cause drunkenness in a house-elf; presumably, in very large amounts, the same would apply to a human. J. K. Rowling said in her interview to Bon Appetit magazine that she imagines it "to taste a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch". Butterbeer can be served cold or hot but either way it has a warming effect.

Wolak Wedding Shower

Yesterday my Mom threw Casie and me a wedding shower. This is actually the first of two wedding showers Casie will be attending. I wasn’t too thrilled I had to go because I always thought showers were more of a girl thing. My dad came at the beginning to eat the catered food and my brother, John, was there to help my mom set up and tear down the decorations. It ended up being surprisingly a good time. Casie and I received a ton of wonderful gifts from Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Target (the only two stores we registered at). Thank you all.

Later that day Casie’s parents, their friends – The Schichtel, Beck, Becky’s friend – Leann, Casie, and I went the Detroit Tigers baseball game versus the Boston Red Sox. We definitely got our money’s worth. The game went into 13 innings with the Tiger prevailing 3-2. You can read the game summary here and box score here.

[UPDATE]
Here are some pictures from the shower and ball game.